<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Too small for the cape and cowl by RinkaRanka</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22398613">Too small for the cape and cowl</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinkaRanka/pseuds/RinkaRanka'>RinkaRanka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Justice League &amp; Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Regression/De-Aging, Bruce Wayne-centric, Cute, De-Aged Bruce Wayne, Fluff, Gen, Kid Bruce Wayne, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling, Young Bruce Wayne, just jl taking care of little bat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 09:55:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,370</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22398613</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RinkaRanka/pseuds/RinkaRanka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A very self-indulgent fic where Bruce is de-aged and Justice League takes care of the adorable little bat.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>J'onn J'onzz &amp; Bruce Wayne, Justice League &amp; Bruce Wayne, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Shayera Hol &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>385</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Mostly based on Jl&amp;JlU cartoon, tho its actually more like a mess of diffetent continuities. But here Bats hadn't revealed his secret identitie yet. :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   The League had a fight with yet another few of oh so many evil wizards. Fight was going fairly well, before one of them didn’t conjure up a spell and hurled it at Superman’s back. It would have hit him, but Batman managed to take Kryptonian out of the way in the last minute. He, however, didn’t have time to get out of the range himself and was hit with the spell right in his chest. There was blinding light, smoke and a pained scream.</p><p> </p><p>Empowered by rage leaguers continued the fight, blazing with desire to destroy those who dared hurt their comrade.</p><p> </p><p>   Superman, eyes blazing, punched and kicked at his opponents with barely restrained force, snapping bones and sending bodies fly, fury marring his face. Shayera brandished her mace, Nth metal crackling with electricity, leaving craters in concretes, battle cry ripping out of her throat. Zatanna screamed out spell after spell, magic fire storming all around, chasing after their foes.</p><p> </p><p>   Already weak and exhausted wizards soon wisely decided to flee, and in a spark of magic they disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>   “Zatanna!’ shouted Superman, feeling the all-encompassing need to catch up to them and make them pay.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “I can’t! I can’t track their teleportation! I can’t!’ in desperate fury yelled the magician, feeling of helplessness lying down on her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>   The team was breathing heavily, rage and desperation in their eyes at not being able to follow their attackers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   A loud sob came from behind.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   All of them at once turned their attention at the place where Batman has last been. In the frenzy of battle nobody noticed a small boy looking at the chaos around him with terrified eyes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   He was practically drowning in Batman’s heavy armor, cowl comically big on a small head, palms lost in seemingly endless sleeves, belt lying on the ground around his ankles as he is too thin for it to properly sit on his waist. One broken lens showed a big blue eye, lashes clinging wetly together. Boy was shaking slightly and pursing his lips. When Zatanna made a step closer he flinched away.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Hey” Superman called softly. Boy’s frightened gaze turned to him. “It’s okay. We won’t hurt you. You are safe with us.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   With slow, deliberate movements he inched his way closer to the child, as not to startle him. When he was a few feet away, he squatted down before the kid with reassuring smile.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “What’s your name?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   He stared at the Man of Steel intently, body tensed, and kept silent.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Superman sighed wearily, still keeping his smile on.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Zatanna softly cleared her throat. “Um… This kid… He is, um, he seems to be Batman.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Shayera balked at that. “What?!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “It seems that he was hit with some sort of de-aging spell. Though I can’t identify what spell it was exactly.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Kal-El frowned pensively at her. “Can you reverse the spell?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Zatanna looked at him miserably. “I can try to, but without knowing which spell it was it can cause even more damage, like making him even younger or older than he was. It can end lethally. It’d be better to not disturb this spell and let it flow on itself.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “So you’re saying we should leave Batman in this condition?’ Shayera scowled deeply at this implication.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Well, yes. Luckily, de-aging spells are almost always short-living and he won’t be staying in that form forever.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “And how long will it take for spell to run out?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Worried look was back on Zatanna’s face. “It can be a few days. Or a year.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   At this, all three turned to the little boy still standing there with fear and confusion written on his face.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   That’s how Shayera found herself babysitting little Batman. After a long time spent calming kid down and convincing him to go with them, they moved him up at the Watchtower, and as soon as they did, ushered him into med bay to check for injuries, but after a thorough look turned out he only had some light scratches and bruises. However the boy – Bruce, as he told them – couldn’t stay in Batman’s suit as it was way too big and uncomfortable for him. So Superman has gone with his super speed to a shop and bought him a few clothes, sighing mournfully at his meager reporter’s salary. After Bruce got dressed – by himself, ‘I’m not a little kid’ he said – into black t-shirt a couple of sizes bigger than needed with a yellow Batman’s logo on it and dark blue jeans, the question arose: what now?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Zatanna said that despite it being a de-aging spell it still could have unusual effects. Little Bat could turn into a monster or start spitting fire any second for all they know about the spell, so it was decided that it would be safer for everyone to leave him on the Watchtower. There always were a few heroes so in case of emergency they would help, and also no civilians would be endangered. And as Hawkgirl had monitor duty scheduled anyway, she graciously agreed to watch over Bruce first.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>      Shayera could physically feel the intense stare on her, but tried to keep her temper down and ignore it, forcefully pulling her attention back to the monitors to watch for any alerts. When she offered her candidature for the task she was prepared to deal with constant pestering, screaming and squealing or whatever annoying thing human children do. What she was not prepared for is heavy silence and way too penetrative eyes for a child. It was taking a lot of her to keep from shouting at the kid to stop it, even though he wasn’t doing anything. Instead she sighed wearily.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “What?’ She asked, turning to Bruce who was sitting in the nearby chair. He seemed startled by sudden question, and quickly averted his look, though a moment later it was back on her. He worried his lip, seemingly thinking weather or not to say something.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Can I touch them?’ He finally asked, and at this moment blankness faded out of his big blue eyes, and they filled instead with genuine innocent curiosity and wonder, though he also looked a little nervous about what he was asking of her.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “What?’ She asked again, too caught up in little boy’s expression to understand what he was talking about. Bruce, in his turn, misunderstood her, and thought she was angry at his request, it being too personal. He hunched on himself and turned away, mumbling ‘Sorry’ and arranging his face back into neutrality.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Shayera startled by his reaction, but quickly realized what he thought, and asked again, in a softer tone, struggling to show the child that she wasn’t mad. “My wings? You want to touch them?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Bruce turned warily back to her, face still blank, and gave a small nod.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   She gently smiled at him and held out her left wing to him, answer clear. Locking eyes with the woman, to make sure what he was doing was alright, Bruce slowly reached out his hand until it touched her wing. That’s when curiosity was back, and his gaze turned to soft feathers, his small hands gently stroking them, marveling at the fluffy and at the same time smooth feeling. After a minute of watching the boy brushing her wing to make sure he wouldn’t accidently do any harm, she turned back to monitors with a small smile, soft touches almost imperceptible.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   This way they spent an hour or so, with Shayera’s attention solely on work and her wing in child’s hands.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   She heard the doors to the room slid open, and Diana walking in, as it was her turn to be on monitor duty. Shayera was quite tired of her monotonous watch and moved to stretch her arms and wings when a tugging sensation reminded her of Bruce, who was so quiet she completely forgot about him. She looked down at him, and saw that he was sleeping, curled up in his seat, a few feathers held loosely in his hand. He was looking so cute she couldn’t help but smile. Diana too looked fond. Two women looked amusedly at each other, and Shayera as gently as possible scooped little boy in her arms. Bruce momentarily stirred, as if going to wake up, and Hawkgirl stroked calmingly his back, his mop of black hair now tucked in her neck.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   When he seemed like he wasn’t going to wake up, she proceeded slowly down winding corridors of Watchtower, receiving many surprised and curious looks, as not everyone yet heard of what happened. Near personal headquarters she was stopped briefly by Supergirl, who with strange gleaming in her eyes almost run into her when he saw Bruce. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it when looking more closely at the boy showed that he was sleeping, and opened it again, speaking in gleeful whisper.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Who is this little cutie and why is he here?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Shayera smiled mischievously at her when she heard the description. It’s not that it wasn’t truth, but she was absolutely sure person in question would fight anyone who said so. “It’s Batman. He was de-aged.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Someone should have taken a photo of the girl’s face at these words, her mouth gaping comically wide with surprise. After a few moments of shock, she couldn’t help but giggle. “Please don’t tell him I said that when he is back his age.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Shayera smirked at her and closed one eye, as if assessing her or aiming. “Hmm, well, maybe a cup of cappuccino with caramel syrup could buy my silence.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Say no more, sister. I’m gonna be back with your coffee in no time.” Supergirl smiled up at her and turned to go, but then asked. “Wait, where are you going?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Batman’s headquarters, let this fella have some sleep. Now that I think about it, I will probably stay there, so he wouldn’t be alone when he woke up, in an unknown place.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Isn’t it locked?”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Superman removed all locks for time being, Batman didn’t use his headquarters much anyway so there’s nothing personal inside.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   “Oh, alright. Well then, I will be there in five.” Supergirl smiled and sped away to retrieve her bribe.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Soon Shayera was in Batman’s room, all stainless steel and spotless furniture, no possessions whatsoever, except for a stash of spare suit and arsenal inside the locker. She slowly lowered Bruce on his standard queen sized bed, and was already moving to sit on nearby chair, when little fist tightened on her top and adorable frown appeared on his face. She moved back to him, sitting on the bed instead. On her way here she took a detour into her room and took a book with her she started a little while ago, something about a detective in 19<sup>th</sup> century England, very popular among human. However instead of opening it, she just looked at quietly sleeping boy, holding tightly her clothes, and stroked his silky black hair.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Supergirl was quite a bit late with Hawkgirl’s promised cup of coffee, but it wasn’t her fault! It’s Flash, he started this conversation, and she just… got a bit caught up in it. Well, it was only ten minutes, so she didn’t thought Shayera would be upset with her. She didn’t even have to bring her this coffee, to be honest. She would most likely forget about it anyway! But, well, she already was a few steps away with cup in hand so might as well finally bring it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Young woman came in the room, and already wanted to say something like “Here’s your coffee” or “Sorry for the wait”, when she saw one of the most adorable sights ever.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   On the double bed they were, Shayera lightly snoring on the far side while little Bat was snuggling closely into her collar bones, one of woman’s wings lying over his lower half as a blanket.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>   Supergirl grinned slyly, set the cup on a bedside table, took out her phone and took a few pictures in different angles, sending one to her uncle Supey. After that she leaved as quietly as she could.</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sorry for the long wait! I was stuck at a place with poor net and little means to write, but now I'm back at home so there will be more updates soon. Also, I have another story going on too, so if you like my writing you can check it out too, if you want :)<br/>Enjoy!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   Slowly the boy drifted from the depths of sleep up into consciousness. He blinked his cloudy eyes, trying to focus on his surroundings , and frowned when realized that he wasn’t in his room. Moments later he also realized there was someone else sleeping near him with their arm thrown protectively over his middle. Bruce turned carefully, as to not wake the other person, on his back to see who it was and saw red haired woman with tiny, almost unnoticeable specks of freckles on her cheeks and nose. Memories from the previous day rushed back to him, and they seemed even more surreal than his dream that he just woken up from and was rapidly forgetting with every moment. But, as a way to confirm that yes, it really did happen, he noticed a small movement from behind the woman – Shayera as she introduced herself yesterday – and saw giant wings attached to woman’s torso. He recalled the silky sensation of soft feathers, and falling asleep still holding on the powerful wings.</p><p> </p><p>   He also remembered long steel corridors and many more people in strange attires and giant windows that looked out on the endless void peppered with countless stars. Maybe he is still asleep?</p><p> </p><p>   However, Bruce didn’t linger on the thought too long as soon he became aware of how hungry he is. He very deftly wriggled out of Shayera’s grasp and sat up. A bit colder air of the room hit his adjusted to other person’s body heat skin and the boy thought about returning back into woman’s warm embrace, but his growling belly decided against it.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce found his sneakers – black, with yellow accents and what looked as a bat on the sides (pretty cool if you ask Bruce) - by the bed and slipped them on. He looked around the room he was in. He hadn’t seen this one before. The walls here were made of the same stainless metal as the corridors he saw the previously. Dimmed light was coming from corners of the ceiling and the wall behind the bed had a window looking out at the vast and empty space. There wasn’t much, just the bed with plain white linen, table with a very sci-fi looking laptop and a lamp on it and a leathery computer chair nearby, wardrobe and two doors.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce decided to try the one at the footboard of the bed as it looked less high tech and just simply swung outwards. It turned out to be a bathroom. There wasn’t a lot of things too, and it looked like a bathroom you would expect to see in a good hotel: stainless, plain in design but not ugly tile, small bath combined with shower, a toilet bowl and sink on the other side of it, clean mirror with inbuilt lights and a shelf and a few fluffy white towels on the hooks near sink and bath. The only things that disturbed the image were half-empty bottles of shampoo and shower gel on a side of the bath, a bit used soap, razor on the mirror’s shelf, a toothbrush and a toothpaste in a cup and a long black and yellow box with a sticky note attached to it.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce came to the sink and took it. There was just two words: ‘For Bruce’, and an ‘S’ in a diamond-like form. The boy recognized it as a symbol he had seen on the blue suit of a man from yesterday, the one that had a red cape and brought him the clothes he was wearing at the moment. He looked at the box to see what it was that the man left for him. It turned out to be kids toothbrush, and it had the same black and yellow bat theme, the box too adorned with bats and advertising it as ‘Batman’s toothbrush!’. Bruce wasn’t sure who it was but he liked his style. There also was a kids toothpaste in the pack with banana taste if he was to believe the caption, but he just scoffed at it. Who this man thought he is? Five year old baby? He didn’t need sweetened paste to brush his teeth, he isn’t a kid.</p><p> </p><p>   He reached out for the tube of toothpaste in the cup, but it was seated on the shelf attached to the mirror and he lacked just a few inches to get it. He huffed an indignant sigh. He wasn’t going to use this childish one! He tried again, stretching on his tiptoes and frowning slightly with the effort, not even realizing he stuck the tip of his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. He grazed his fingertips on the opaque glass of the cup but just barely. Sighing again, the boy looked around for something he could stand on and saw a small plastic stool in the corner behind the sink that he hadn’t seen before. He moved it to the sink and stood on it. This way he could actually see his head in the mirror, though just barely, and he had to stand on his tippy toes to see his chin. At least he was able to take the toothpaste now.</p><p> </p><p>   He squeezed a bit of the ‘adult’ paste on his new toothbrush and started cleaning his teeth. At first the gel had had a nice mint taste, but soon he started feeling the burn. Bruce winced and spit out the excess foam. What’s up with this one? He looked at the tube. Extra mint &amp; teeth whitening. Ew. It burned way harder then his mom’s one. His eyes traitorously fell on the tube with ‘banana’ typed on it in big yellow letters. No way. He is not a kid. Bruce frowned deeply and with aching mouth continued brushing his teeth as is, stoically ignoring treacherous thoughts of the sweet edible paste lying innocently just by his elbow.</p><p> </p><p>   After completing his morning routine Bruce emerged from the bathroom to find Shayera still soundly asleep on the bed, now frowning slightly in her sleep while clutching the blanket to her chest. Slowly, as to not to make a sound, Bruce creeped to the other door, this one having no handle on it or anything to hold on to, a square touchpad on the wall near it. He has made half of the way to the door when the winged woman suddenly made a lunge with her hand, fist swinging through the air wildly, and exclaimed, while still asleep: “Yeah! Come on! Fight me, you, khaareeh!”</p><p> </p><p>   Then, she shifted to lie on her other side and continued soundly sleeping like nothing happened.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce just stared, startled. He briefly wondered what ‘khaareeh’ could mean but it kind of sounded like something his parents wouldn’t want him saying.</p><p> </p><p>   After a few moments of staring at the woman’s back he was reminded that he, actually, had a goal. He walked to the door, but before he could wonder how exactly it opens it just slid to the side as soon as he was close enough. He stepped out of the room.</p><p> </p><p>   Well, he did see corridors like that the other day – the other day? Was it really the other day? He didn’t notice any clocks, and it was a bit hard to understand if it’s day or night in space. Anyway, he definitely recognized this as one of the many corridors these strange people led him through, but which one was it? They all looked the same! And is there even a kitchen or some place where he could eat? ‘Well, they do have bedrooms here, most likely they have kitchen too.’ Bruce thought to himself, trying to use deduction as one of his favorite characters.</p><p> </p><p>   There was no one else here, and there were no signs that would tell him where to go, so after a pause he decided to go in the right direction. Soon he came to a crossroads. And again, no signs or directions. Bruce huffed, frustrated. Was it so hard to just draw an arrow on a wall with a caption like ‘Dining room there’ or something? This place looked so much like a starship from a movie, hadn’t anyone thought about navigation?</p><p> </p><p>   After some thinking, Bruce decided that on every intersection he will come across he will always take the right turn, and if they ended with a dead-end then he will return and take the other. Eventually he will find someone and ask them where to go. Yesterday – or, rather, before he fell asleep, - he saw a lot of people here, so surely he will meet someone soon, right?</p><p> </p><p>   Wrong.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce took more than twenty or so turns and had yet to coma across a single living soul. A few times he ended up in different rooms, which purposes he didn’t always understand, like the one with a lot of strange looking apparatuses and a crackling glow of electricity shining through glass tubes, or the one that was empty and divided in half by a glass panel, lamps overhead drowning the room in red light. On his way Bruce came across quite a big amount of broom closets and stockrooms. He also saw a room that was more of a mini-garden, exotic plants taking up almost all available space, their sweet scents making it hard to breathe. Some rooms wouldn’t open for him, making him once again return and take another way.</p><p> </p><p>   And now, Bruce found himself in the longest of corridors he had ever been in, and that was saying something considering the Wayne Manor he lived in. This corridor had a slight curve to it and the right wall was fully made of glass, opening a view on the black vastness of Universe, beautiful specs of oh so distant stars and the shining blue orb of the Third Planet. It was spectacular view. Bruce couldn’t take his eyes away, walking slowly down the way.</p><p> </p><p>   He felt so… small. All this colossal empty space on this side of glass and on the other crushing down on his little shoulders. All the people he knew – down there, on the planet bellow, so many miles away that there was simply no way he was getting back to them on his own. He was stuck in this metal monstrosity, alone, lost in the endless maze of turns and twists, and no one would hear him even if he tried to shout from the very top of his lungs.</p><p> </p><p>   His stomach twisted and he felt like throwing up. He started running forward, breath hitching and hiccupping, legs feeling shaky and tears streaming down his red cheeks. He knew he was hyperventilating, he knew he was on the verge of a panic attack but he couldn’t stop, he just couldn’t, it was just too scary, he was lost, lost forever, and no one will ever find him.</p><p> </p><p>   Suddenly he felt something in his mind, something he never felt before, a gentle tickling sensation of sorts, like the barest of caressing touches, and this made him slow his pace. Gently it sneaked it’s way further in until he could clearly feel something like a connection, but connection to what, or, rather, who, was still unclear.</p><p> </p><p>   ‘Bruce.’ He heard the low baritone right inside his mind. An instinctual feeling of fear reared its head on the strange new sensation, and whoever was on the other end immediately sent a calming feeling through the link.</p><p> </p><p>   ‘Don’t be afraid.’ The calmness rippled through his troubled consciousness, making his body come to a stop in the middle of the way. ‘My name is J’onn, I won’t harm you. What are you troubled with?’</p><p> </p><p>   The feelings of being lost and scared and so, so very alone resurfaced all at once, making a few more tears slip down his face.</p><p> </p><p>   ‘I see. Don’t worry, Bruce. I sent Flash to help you.’ Said the gentle voice in his head, and a second later a red streak appeared before his eyes, the next moment forming into a man in bright scarlet suit with yellow accents and symbol of lightning in a circle on his chest. “Flash to the rescue! What’s the trouble?” Said the man in cheery voice.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce looked up at him in speechless shock, blue eyes wide with wonder and mouth gaping at the sudden appearance.</p><p> </p><p>   Flash looked at the boy more closely, and noticed the wetness of his face. He squatted in front of the child to be on his eye level and look less threatening. “Heey, buddy, what is it? C’mon chum, tell me what’s wrong.”</p><p> </p><p>   Slowly, Bruce woke from his stupor and hiccupped, eyes moist, cheeks flushing with embarrassment at his own helplessness: “I’m… lost.” His stomach gave a loud grumble. “…and hungry.” He added, gaze locked on his shoes.</p><p> </p><p>   “Got it. No worries kid, I’m just the right person to help you. To the cafeteria we go, then.” Flash smiled widely at the boy, his voice full of reassurance. “Do you mind if I pick you up?”</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce shook his head and let the man pick him, wrapping his arms around his neck. As soon as he was up, Flash started running in the direction he came from, slowing his speed so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable for the child in his arms, but still being way faster then any other human. Bruce couldn’t help the expression of wonder on his face, looking wildly around as his surroundings were blurring from the speed, the tear tracks drying from the air blowing past them.</p><p> </p><p>   A few minutes later they both end up in the dining area of Watchtower. There, finally, Bruce sees the abundance of people he remembered. They all were wearing strange colorful attires and some of them looked very… extraordinary. Bruce realized he was staring at the man with silvery skin and hair and even eyes, and stopped immediately, turning away. Alfred taught him better than that. Instead he looked at where the man that called himself Flash was taking him.</p><p> </p><p>   The pair came closer to one of the tables that was already occupied by… someone. They had green skin and red eyes, and Bruce thought looked almost like human male, but there were some noticeable differences. The person had a deep blue cape on two red straps, and was currently eating Oreos. The boy one again caught himself staring.</p><p> </p><p>   “Mission completed!” Flash exclaimed joyfully, setting the child in his arms on one of the chairs at the table and then plopping on another one.</p><p> </p><p>   “Thank you.” The person said monotonously and Bruce immediately recognized the voice.</p><p> </p><p>   “You are J’onn?”</p><p> </p><p>   J’onn nodded, munching on his cookie.</p><p> </p><p>   “How did you do that, that- thingy?!” Bruce asked excitedly, gesturing with his hands at his head to get across what he meant by ‘thingy’.</p><p> </p><p>   ‘Telepathy. All Martians have it. We use to communicate with each other.’ J’onn’s voice said in his head, while his mouth was still closed.</p><p> </p><p>   “You are Martian?!” Bruce gaped at the green man.</p><p> </p><p>   Both J’onn and Flash chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>   “So, now that we worked it out, I have a question for you too, kid.” Flash smiled at him, a bit of confusion on his face. “Who are you, exactly?”</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce, distracted from yet another act of staring, extended his arm to the man for a handshake with a seriousness of a businessman. “My name is Bruce. And yours?”</p><p> </p><p>   The man in red suit made a serious look too and shook his hand. “Barry. Nice to meet you.” He then glanced at J’onn, and there seemed to be a silent dialogue between the adults. ‘Telepathy’ Bruce thought with wonder.</p><p> </p><p>   “Oh. <em>Oh</em>. I see now. Should have figured it out sooner, what with the T-shirt and the, the sneakers…” Barry said suddenly.</p><p> </p><p>   “What with the T-shirt?” The boy perked up.</p><p> </p><p>   “Nothing, nothing at all. Tho it’s pretty cool. You like Batman?” Flash asked with a smirk.</p><p> </p><p>   “Weeell, I don’t actually know who it is. But I like the shirt.” He said honestly, having already figured out that it also was Batman’s merch, what with the bat symbol and the color scheme.</p><p> </p><p>   “Sure you do.” Barry said, smile in his voice, J’onn laughing lowly beside him.</p><p> </p><p>   Kid’s stomach decided then to growl loudly to remind them of a problem at hand.</p><p> </p><p>   “Oh, right, I almost forgot. C’mon kid, lets take you something to eat.” Flash stood up and moved to the lunch line, Bruce hurrying after him. “So, you want anything in particular, or whatever will do?” He said, taking two trays.</p><p> </p><p>   “I, um..” There was quite a big choice of food there and the boy couldn’t decide what exactly he wanted. “Well, it all looks nice-”</p><p> </p><p>    “Oh my god, who is this little darling?” A woman with wild green hair and strong accent who was before them in the line suddenly squatted down before Bruce with gleaming eyes and a big smile.</p><p> </p><p>   “I- I’m Bruce.” He stuttered out in answer, startled.</p><p> </p><p>   “Hello, Bruce, I’m Beatriz, but <em>you</em> can call me Bea.” The woman winked at him. “ How old are you?”</p><p> </p><p>   “Seve-“</p><p> </p><p>   “Oh look at you, aren’t you just adorable.” The woman moved to pinch his cheeks, but Flash moved in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>   “Excuse us, but we actually wanted to take something to eat.” He said with a strict tone.</p><p> </p><p>   “Oh right, yes, sure, of course, sorry for interrupting.” She recalled where she is and hastily stood up, moving down the line. Flash sighed.</p><p> </p><p>   “I don’t know about you, but I myself hated when people would try to pinch my cheeks when I was little.” He said to the boy.</p><p> </p><p>   “Yeah, me too.” Bruce agreed. “Tho I’m not little.” He said after a pause.</p><p> </p><p>   Barry snorted at him. “Sure.”</p><p> </p><p>   After that they took their meals. Flash piled up almost every snack there was on his now looking tiny under the mountain of food tray, and Bruce couldn’t help but wonder where exactly he is going to put all this food. Surely he can’t eat so much, right? He himself chose pasta with a beefsteak and some vegetables. He would like to take some snacks instead, of course, but Alfred wouldn’t be happy with him if he didn’t eat ‘normal’ food, and he <em>would</em> know if he didn’t. He always knows.</p><p> </p><p>   They came back to their table and started eating in comfortable silence. At first Bruce’s focus was fully at his meal, but as he finished eating he lifted his gaze up. And, wow, Barry seemed to be really, <em>really</em> hungry. He was eating so fast Bruce was worrying he would choke, jaws working at impossible speed. Suddenly he stopped, and only then Bruce realized that all the food that was on man’s tray was already gone. Flash noticed him looking and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Fast metabolism.” He said as an explanation.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce nodded, though it still didn’t explain much to him, and his face showed it. Flash noticed.</p><p> </p><p>   “You know, like… uh… Well, you see, I’m super fast, right? So I, well, digest food and get hungry fast too, understand?” He tried to explain.</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce nodded again.</p><p> </p><p>   “No? Well how do I… imagine, um… no, wait, how about this, so-“</p><p> </p><p>    “Yes, yes, yes, I understood, understood! It’s a byproduct of your super speed, or whatever you call it, I got it. I’m not stupid. Jeez.”</p><p> </p><p>   “Oh. Right. Sorry. Of course you got it, you are B- <em>Bruce</em>, after all.” Barry laughed a bit, putting up his hands in a peace gesture. “By the way, how old are you, again?”</p><p> </p><p>   “Seven, but my birthday is in a month, so you can say I’m eight.” Bruce said, unconsciously straitening up in his seat to look higher.</p><p> </p><p>   “Cool. You are all grown up, huh?” Barry smirked at him, and then leaned closer to his ear. “Then how about a round in the Mortal Combat X? Like an adult against fellow adult?” He stage whispered. “If you are not scared to loose to me, of course.”</p><p> </p><p>   Bruce did hear about Mortal Combat, though he was fairly sure there was not this much games in the series. Well, he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Khaareeh - is an alien curse word I made up to not up the rating :D</p><p>Next chap teaser: Bruce and Barry playing Mortal Combat. Who else is going to appear? Make your suggestions!</p><p>I love every comment you leave guys, let me know what you think :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All critique is welcome! Also, you can leave suggestions as to which character you would like to see and what they should do. But I warn you, I won't write underage!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>